Anatomy is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science which deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times. Anatomy is inherently tied to developmental biology, embryology, comparative anatomy, evolutionary biology, and phylogeny, as these are the processes by which anatomy is generated over immediate (embryology) and long (evolution) timescales. Anatomy and physiology, which study (respectively) the structure and function of organisms and their parts, make a natural pair of related disciplines, and they are often studied together. Human anatomy is one of the essential basic sciences that are applied in medicine.
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. It can also be seen as the bony frame work of the body which provides support, shape and protection to the soft tissues and delicate organs in animals. There are several different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body, the hydroskeleton, and the cytoskeleton. The term comes from Greek σκελετός (skeletós), meaning 'dried up'.
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera, are a basal Metazoa (animal) clade as a sister of the Diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. The branch of zoology that studies sponges is known as spongiology.
Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four- and/or six-pointed siliceous spicules, often referred to as glass sponges. They are usually classified along with other sponges in the phylum Porifera, but some researchers consider them sufficiently distinct to deserve their own phylum, Symplasma.
The calcareous sponges of class Calcarea are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made out of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite. While the spicules in most species have three points, in some species they have either two or four points.
The Venus' flower basket is a hexactinellid sponge in the phylum Porifera inhabiting the deep ocean.
An endoskeleton is an internal support structure of an animal, composed of mineralized tissue.
Intramembranous ossification is one of the two essential processes during fetal development of the gnathostome skeletal system by which rudimentary bone tissue is created. Intramembranous ossification is also an essential process during the natural healing of bone fractures and the rudimentary formation of bones of the head. Unlike endochondral ossification, which is the other process by which bone tissue is created during fetal development, cartilage is not present during intramembranous ossification.
Demospongiae is the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide. They are predominantly leuconoid in structure. Their "skeletons" are made of spicules consisting of fibers of the protein spongin, the mineral silica, or both. Where spicules of silica are present, they have a different shape from those in the otherwise similar glass sponges.
A corpus cavernosum penis (singular) is one of a pair of sponge-like regions of erectile tissue, the corpora cavernosa (plural), which contain most of the blood in the penis during an erection. Such a corpus is homologous to the corpus cavernosum clitoridis in the female; the body of the clitoris contains erectile tissue in a pair of corpora cavernosa with a recognisably similar structure.
The corpus cavernosum of clitoris is one of a pair of sponge-like regions of erectile tissue which contain most of the blood in the clitoris during clitoral erection. This is homologous to the corpus cavernosum penis in the male; the body of the clitoris contains erectile tissue in a pair of corpora cavernosa, with a recognizably similar structure.
Leucosolenia is a genus of calcareous sponges belonging to the family Leucosoleniidae. Species of this genus usually appear as groups of curved vases, up to 2 cm long, each ending in an osculum. The overall shape is sometimes likened to a tiny bunch of bananas. They are most often observed in tide pools, clustered around the base of seaweeds or on rocks, and occur in a variety of colours, usually rather pale. Its canal system is of asconoic type.
Characteristics of Leucosolenia sp.
Cliona californiana, the yellow boring sponge, boring sponge or sulphur sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Clionaidae. It is native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean and burrows into the shell valves of bivalve molluscs.
Sponge reefs are reefs formed by Hexactinellid sponges, which have a skeleton made of silica, and are often referred to as glass sponges. Such reefs are now very rare, and found only on the western Canadian continental shelf. Although common in the late Jurassic period, sponge reefs were believed to have gone extinct during or shortly after the Cretaceous period, until the existing reefs were discovered in 1987–1988 - hence these sometimes being dubbed living fossils.
Anheteromeyenia argyrosperma is a freshwater sponge found across North America.
Cloud sponge (Aphrocallistes vastus) is a primitive organism of the order Hexactinosida in the class Hexactinellida. It is a deep-water reef-forming animal. The species was first described by F.E. Schulze in 1886.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. They provide structural support and deter predators. Large spicules that are visible to the naked eye are referred to as megascleres, while smaller, microscopic ones are termed microscleres.
Suberites is a genus of sea sponges in the family Suberitidae.
Sponges, known scientifically as Porifera, are the oldest metazoans and are used to elucidate the basics of multicellular evolution. These living fossils are ideal for studying the principal features of metazoans, such as extracellular matrix interactions, signal-receptor systems, nervous or sensory systems, and primitive immune systems. Thus, sponges are useful tools with which to study early animal evolution. They appeared approximately 580 million years ago.
The Trichosomoididae is a family of nematodes.
